Bruins Rally Past Flyers in Overtime (12/7/24)

For two periods it appeared the Boston Bruins were sleepwalking through today's Saturday matinee tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers came out swinging in the first period, scoring two goals with b both scored by Matvei Michkov. Trent Frederic scored a power play goal in the second period to cut the lead but Cam York scored to put the Flyers up 3-1 going into the third period. Then the Bruins rallied with goals from Frederic again and Brad Marchand to send the game to sudden death overtime. There, Pavel Zacha did the honors with the goal to win the game. The Bruins rallied down 2-0 and 3-1 to win 4-3 in overtime at TD Garden.

                                                               Happy Bruins

The Flyers made the first mistake taking a too many men on the ice penalty just 1:41 into the game. Charlie McAvoy passed to David Pastrnak but his shot was saved by Philly goalie Aleksei Kolosov. Both Nikita Zadorov and Charlie Coyle were stopped by Kolosov as well. Pastrnak set up another shot by McAvoy but Kolosov saved that tpo. Brad Marchand tried to whack the rebound in but the puck hit the post to end the power play. Andrew Peeke got a shot off but it was denied with 15:27 left in the period. Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman kicked out a couple of shots on the ensuing rush the other way. With 14:06 left in the period, Ryan Poehling passed to a wide open Garnet Hathaway but Swayman made a big save. Disaster struck when Mark Kastelic got bagged for tripping with 12:47 left in the period. Just 10 seconds later, Emil Andrae blasted a shot off Swayman from the point. Sean Couturier poked the puck to Matvei Michkov who scored the power play goal to put Philly on top. 18 seconds later, Cameron York was sent to the box for slashing. Pastrnak set up a streaking Marchand but Kolosov blocked the shot on the power play. Marc McLaughlin was also robbed by Kolosov and with 6 minutes left in the period, Justin Brazeau set up Pavel Zacha. Kolosov made the save and disaster struck again with just under two minutes remaining. Travis Sanheim threw the puck across the ice to a wide open Michkov who scored again to put the Flyers up by two going into intermission, 2-0.

                                                          Flyers take the lead

The Bruins began their comeback when York was sent to the box 3:32 into the second period for tripping. About a minute later, Andrae and McAvoy were sent to the box with matching roughing minors. 5:15 into the period, Brazeau set up Morgan Geekie but Kolosov made the save. Geekie dug the puck out of a scrum who passed it back to Mason Lohrei. Lohrei's shot on net was tipped home by Trent Frederic for the goal 5:26 into the period. Halfway through the period, Swayman was knocked on his ass and still made a glove save on a Sanheim slapshot. With 4:31 left in the period, Travis Konecny dug the puck out for Sanheim to take it. Sanheim dished to an open York who scored to put the Flyers back up by two goals. With 3:29 left, McAvoy tripped up Owen Tippett and Tippett didn't take kindly to it. McAvoy and Tippett got matching roughing penalties but the Flyers were on the power play. The Bruins managed to kill it off but still trailed 3-1 going into the third.

                                               "Want a piece of me??"

The Bruins suddenly came to life in the third period with 14:34 left in the game. Kastelic's puck was deflected to Charlie Coyle. Coyle left the puck for Frederic, who scored his second goal of the game to pull the Bruins within one. Forty-seven seconds later, Konecny was sent off for interference to put the Bruins on the power play. Zacha passed it to Elias Lindholm who left the puck to Marchand. Marchand's shot was denied by Kolosov. The Flyers killed it off, but with 9:27 left, old friend Hathaway was sent to the box for tripping. Once again the Bruins failed to score and things looked bleak. Suddenly, with 5:22 left, Brazeau took the puck and flipped it up the ice. Marchand broke away from Tyler Foerster, shot and scored to tie the game. The Bruins had a chance to win the game when Couturier was whistled for tripping with 1:57 left. The Bruins failed to score and we headed to overtime.

                                                            Bruins tie it up

The Bruins had just 3 seconds of power play time before things went back to normal. Things looked bad when Joel Farabee bum rushed Lindholm off the puck for a breakaway. Somehow Swayman saved the shot to keep the game going with just under 3 minutes left in overtime. With 2:11 left, Pastrnak drew two defenders from behind the net and passed to a wide open Zacha in the slot. Zacha buried it and the Bruins had rallied to win in overtime 4-3.

                                                             Bruins win!

Reaction:

How about Pavel "Sudden Death" Zacha? That's two game winning overtime goals in the Joe Sacco era and they desperately needed the second point to keep pace with the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bruins needed a win like that too after falling behind by two goals twice. You don't want to see them step on their collective dicks like that but it shows serious balls not to give up and still pull the game out. Swayman stepped up after the third goal and held Philly scoreless the rest of the way. Swayman's save in overtime was just as big as Zacha's goal. The Bruins were 1 for 6 on the power play and Sacco needs to make some changes because this is reaching 2011 Bruins against Montreal bad. A lot of fans are grumbling that the Bruins are beating bad teams to win seven of nine but better to win than lose. They still got the god awful west coast trip coming up as well, getting some wins there should settle the restless natives. The win improved the Bruins to 15-11-3, good for 33 points, 3 points behind the Panthers for first place in the Atlantic. The Bruins look to make it five wins in a row this Tuesday night when they travel all the way to Winnipeg to play the Jets. The game begins at 8:00 PM Eastern time at Canada Life Centre.

Bruins Hold Off Blackhawks (12/4/24)

The Chicago Blackhawks have a bright future ahead with Connor Bedard but until they got more talent, they'll fall victim to teams like the Boston Bruins. Under Joe Sacco, the Bruins have turned it up defensively and don't rely on just David Pastrnak for offense. Tonight's game it was the Brad Marchand and Morgan Geekie show. Geekie and Marchand scored two goals apiece to pace the offense although Pastrnak assisted on both Marchand goals. The Bruins defense held the Blackhawks to just 22 shots and Jeremy Swayman was able to stop 20 of them. The Hawks scored first just 83 seconds into the game but Geekie scored to tie the game heading to the second period. Marchand scored twice to increase the lead but Jason Dickinson scored with 97 seconds left to end the period. Geekie scored five minutes into the third period and the defense held up. The Bruins had won both games of the back-to-back including this one 4-2 over the Blackhawks at TD Garden.

                                                            The Captain leads the way

The Blackhawks got the first chance in the first period as Lukas Reichel skated right past Pavel Zacha and Jordan Oesterle, but Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman blocked the shot. The Hawks struck first when Connor Murphy passed to old buddy Nick Foligno. Foligno skated around the net and passed to Alex Vlasic in the slot. Vlasic scored and the Hawks were up 1-0 just 1:23 into the game. The Bruins first shot didn't come until 2:40 into the game when Cole Koepke passed back to Oesterle for a one timer, stopped by Hawks goalie Peter Mrazek. The Bruins got the first power play when Murphy flipped the puck out of the arena for a delay of game penalty 4:50 into the period. Elias Lindholm jammed it on net but Marchand and Zacha couldn't get it in. Charlie McAvoy's slapshot was also stopped by Mrazek. With 7:43 left in the period, Oesterle passed down low to Justin Brazeau. He passed back to Geekie who fired it off Mrazek. Mrazek never saw the puck squirt behind him and Geekie jammed it in to tie the game. Just over a minute later, John Beecher was sent to the box for tripping. On the power play, Vlasic passed down low to Teuvo Teravainen but Swayman stopped the shot attempt. Old friend Ryan Donato was also denied by Swayman to end the power play threat. With 4:18 left in the first, Charlie Coyle walked in alone but was stopped by Mrazek. The Bruins missed a goal by inches with 14 seconds left when Lindholm passed it to Marchand who fired it past Mrazek....off the post. The puck squirted under Mrazek but bounced an inch too far to the right. The Bruins did get a power play out of it because Wyatt Kaiser swept the puck out of the way and crashed into the net for a delay of game penalty. The Bruins went into the break tied at 1-1.

                                                        Geekie fires it home

The Bruins started the second period on the power play and Mrazek came up big for Chicago. Pastrnak fired it on net and Lindholm had a shot at the rebound but Peter stopped him cold. Pastrnak had another shot at it but Mrazek made the save to kill off the penalty. Another old friend Tyler Bertuzzi fired a slapshot but Swayman saved it using his head. With just under three minutes gone in the second period, Mason Lohrei passed low to Pastrnak. Pastrnak saw Marchand open in his usual slot and Brad scored his ninth goal of the season to put the Bruins ahead. Just three minutes later, Oesterle passed the puck to Pastrnak shot the puck off Mrazek and Marchand backhanded the rebound in for his second goal of the game. With 8:37 left in the period, Geekie fired on net and Zacha just missed putting the rebound in. With 4:52 left, Nikita Zadorov was called for holding and the Blackhawks went on the power play. The Bruins killed it off but disaster struck with 1:37 left in the period. Murphy passed it to Ilya Mikheyev who then passed to Jason Dickinson. Dickinson fired on net....goal! The Bruins had to settle for going into the third period up 3-2.

                                                          Bruins still had the lead

The game essentially was on five minutes into the third period. Lohrei blocked a shot by Reichel and Brazeau corralled the puck. He fired it up the ice to Geekie on a breakaway. Geekie moved in, shot and scored to put the Bruins up by two with just under 15 minutes to go. Ninety seconds later Swayman made a huge stop on a Bedard partial breakaway that had Connor so mad that he broke his own stick on the bench. With 11 minutes left in the game, Mikheyev was called for tripping to put the Bruins on the power play. McAvoy's slapshot beat Mrazek clean but it hit off the crossbar. Other than that, the Bruins failed to score. Coyle and Brazeau both were robbed by Mrazek as well. With 5:44 left it looked like Bedard high sticked Marchand and the slow motion replay showed that Brad might have embellished a little but the stick still made contact. The Bruins basically kept the puck away for two minutes to fail on the power play but maintain the two goal lead. The Blackhawks circled the net but made a fatal mistake when they had too many men on the ice with 1:45 left. They couldn't use the man advantage for the rest of the period and the Bruins had won the game 4-2.

                                                                      Bruins win

Reaction:

The Blackhawks are a bad team and the Bruins have definitely taken advantage of their currently soft schedule, but these are the teams you need to beat. The Joe Sacco Bruins have won 5 of their last 7 games since Jim Montgomery shuffled off to St. Louis and 10 points is 10 points no matter who its against. The Bruins are still behind the Florida Panthers but the gap is closing as they're suffering from a small Stanley Cup hangover. Once the Bruins get Hampus Lindholm back, their defense should be bolstered without having to rely on the Jordan Oesterle's of the world, although he did get a big assist tonight. The Bruins are still a couple of forwards away from competing for the Stanley Cup but isn't that always the case? The win improved the Bruins to 14-11-3, good for 31 points and just 3 points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins return to action this Saturday afternoon for a matinee tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers. The game begins at 1:00 PM at TD Garden.

Bruins Rally To Beat Detroit In OT (12/3/24)

The Joe Sacco era is off to a great start as the Boston Bruins rallied to beat the Detroit Red Wings tonight in overtime to improve Joe to 5-2 as Bruins coach. The Red Wings struck first in tonight's game when Lucas Raymond beat Joonas Korpisalo in the first period but the Bruins tied it when Nikita Zadorov's blast from the blue line slipped past Detroit goalie Ville Husso. It looked like Detroit took the lead in the second period when Raymond scored again but the alert Sacco challenged the goal. Sure enough, the goal didn't count and the game remained tied until the third period. Raymond scored his official second goal just a minute into the third period and it looked like Boston was headed to a bitter defeat. Instead, Justin Brazeau scored on the power play to tie up the game. The game plunged into overtime and David Pastrnak set up Pavel Zacha's blast to end the game. The Bruins had won it 3-2 in overtime at the TD Garden.

                                                           Zacha wins it for Boston

Alex DeBrincat got the first scoring chance of the game one minute into the game but Joonas Korpisalo made the save. Simon Edvinsson also fired on net but it was stopped by Joonas. Just over three minutes into the game, Cole Koepke passed to Marc McLaughlin who's shot was saved by Detroit goalie Ville Husso. A minute later, Mark Kastelic nearly tipped one in but Husso made the save. Then disaster struck when Edvinsson threw the puck off Charlie McAvoy's skate right to Lucas Raymond who fired the puck past Korpisalo to give Detroit the lead 7:31 into the period. Less than two minutes later, Brad Marchand back handed a pass to Nikita Zadorov who's one time blast went through Husso to tie the game. With 2 minutes left in the period, Jeff Petry was called for holding to put the Bruins on the power play. The Bruins failed to score and they headed to intermission tied 1-1.

                                                A slapshot goal from a defender named Z

The second period was a stalemate although Kastelic had a rebound go right to him in front of the net, but he failed to score eight minutes into the period. Charlie Coyle got called for tripping with 8:52 left in the period and it looked like Marco Kasper scored a power play goal on a tip in. Bruins coach Joe Sacco challenged that the Red Wings were offsides. The refs looked at the replay and sure enough, the goal was overturned. Things got a little chippy when Zadorov got sent to the box for slashing with 5:51 left and almost as soon as he got out of the box, Ben Chiarot told him "its go time." They both got matching double minors and Zadorov managed to get six penalty minutes in just over two minutes. Korpisalo robbed JT Compher and then Petry also was stopped. We then had four on four action to end the period as Brandon Carlo went off for interference while Compher went off for holding. Pastrnak had a breakaway with 45 seconds left but Hossa stopped the attempt. That was it for the second period with the score remaining tied 1-1.

                                                     "No goal for you!" - Sacco

The Red Wings wasted no time scoring to open the third period. Just 1:19 into the period, Edvinsson passed to Michael Rasmussen who found Raymond open in the slot. Raymond's shot went through Korpisalo to put the Red Wings up 2-1. Worse yet, Charlie McAvoy went off for hooking 6:31 into the period to put the Red Wings on the power play. Dylan Larkin fired on net to draw Korpisalo out of the crease and the rebound went right to Rasmussen. Korpisalo BARELY got the blocker on it to keep the game tied. Momentum shifted as Ben Chiarot took an interference penalty 9:28 into the period. Frederic won the faceoff and passed it back to Lohrei. Lohrei fired on net, off the stick of Brazeau and in to tie the game! With 4:45 left Erik Gustafsson was sent to the box for tripping. The Bruins failed to score on the power play and we headed to overtime.

                                                       Bruins tie it up

Pavel Zacha got the first chance 15 seconds into overtime but Husso made the save. Alex DeBrincat tried to dive for a penalty on Pastrnak but the ref let them play. Pastrnak passed the puck back to Zacha who's slapshot went in to win the game 2:15 into OT. The Red Wings complained but they took their eye off the ball long enough for the Bruins to win.

                                                          Bruins win

Reaction:

Detroit is missing some guys for sure but that was a balsy win by the Bruins. They fell behind twice in the game and rallied back to win it. The challenge by Sacco pretty much saved the game considering that goal would have been the difference in the game. Kudos to Andrew Peeke who played the third period with cotton up his nose after taking a puck to the face in the second period. Pastrnak and Zacha have been called out in the media when the Bruins were getting their teeth kicked in the dying days of Jim Montgomery, I'd say they stepped up big time. Winning five of seven is nothing to sneeze at, considering the lopsided scores leading up to the Montgomery firing. Korpisalo made some BIG stops and finally looked like the goalie that got the superstar contract from Ottawa. The win improved the Bruins to 13-11-3, just three points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins have no time to celebrate because the Bruins are back in action tomorrow night in Chicago to face Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks. The game begins at 7:30 PM at the United Center.

Bruins Beat Habs in Centennial Game (12/1/24)

The Boston Bruins played their first game on December 1, 1924 beating the Montreal Maroons. One hundred years later the Boston Bruins repeated history after a very long pregame ceremony to beat the Montreal Canadiens. The much maligned Bruins offense came out swinging scoring three goals in the span of just 70 seconds in the first period. Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle all found the back of the net against Cayden Primeau halfway through the period. In the second period, McAvoy broke away for a shorthanded goal to make it 4-0 but Cole Caulfield scored to make it 4-1 going into the third. Coyle scored just 21 seconds into the third period although Montreal rallied with goals from Caufield and Emil Heineman to pull within two with just under 14 minutes to go. The Bruins defense held fast under Jeremy Swayman and Cole Koepke provided the empty net goal to end it. The Bruins had beaten Montreal in their Centennial Game 6-3 at TD Garden.

                                                                100 Years of Fun

The Bruins came out with a fire in the first period with Cayden Primeau having to stop a Charlie McAvoy blast less than a minute into the game. Three minutes later Trent Frederic dished to Nikita Zadorov but Primeau made the stop. Swayman then held fast eight minutes into the period when Arber Xhekaj slapshot went right into his pads. The Bruins got lucky nine minutes into the period when Mike Matheson beat Swayman clean on a shot from the point....off the post! Emil Heineman got the rebound but couldn't put it in. Down the other end, Mark Kastelic dished it to Frederic but Primeau stopped him. The puck went to Jordan Oesterle who dished it to McAvoy who scored a wraparound goal to put the Bruins up 1-0.

                                                           That's one

Just fifty-five seconds later David Pastrnak sent it to Pavel Zacha who's blast dropped Primeau. In the confusion, Morgan Geekie ended up with the puck behind the net. He sent it to Pastrnak in the shot who scored his 9th goal of the season to increase the lead.

                                                        That's two

Just fifteen seconds later Kastelic fired it on net and Primeau left a rebound. Coyle backhanded the rebound into the net for yet another goal to complete the trifecta. The Bruins sat on the lead the remainder of the period and went into intermission up 3-0.

                                                           That's three

Things got even worse for the Canadiens in the second period although things looked to go their way when Nikita Zadorov sent the puck out of the arena for a delay of game just 25 seconds into the period. Then McAvoy fell to the ice, sweeping the puck over in the direction of Elias Lindholm and Matheson. Matheson kicked the puck away only for McAvoy to take it and go. McAvoy skated in and scored the breakway goal to put the Bruins up by four.

                                                      Kiss the crest Charlie Mac

Finally the Canadiens did something five minutes later ironically as guest commentator Ray Bourque said "its a game of mistakes". Nick Suzuki passed it to Xhekaj who literally skated all the way in and shot the puck on a wraparound attempt. The puck went off Cole Caufield's skate and in to break up the shutout with Caulfield getting the credit. Then things went old school as Lane Hutson was called for tripping 10:32 into the period. In the ensuing scrum, Kastelic and Xhekaj had a chinwag that would have made Georges Laraque and Zdeno Chara proud. Both Kastelic and Xhekaj took a ten minute game misconduct and matching roughing penalties into the dressing room. The Bruins failed to cash in on the power play although both Geekie and John Beecher had good chances. With 6:36 left in the period, Koepke beat Primeau clean but it went off the post and out. No other shenanigans happened and the Bruins went into the third period up 4-1.

                                                          Old time hockey!

The Bruins wasted no time essentially putting the game away to begin the third period. Koepke intercepted a pass at the blue line and passed to a streaking Coyle, potting another goal past Primeau to put the Bruins back up by four. The Canadiens struck back two minutes later as Hutson passed ahead to Jake Evans. Evans passed to Emil Heineman who's one timer beat Swayman to inch the Canadiens closer. The Bruins had a big chance for another goal when Coyle passed down low to Kastelic but he couldn't bury the one timer with 13:33 to go. Down the other end, Suzuki took the puck, passed to Caufield who scored to put Montreal back in the game. Justin Brazeau had a wide open chance but couldn't score on Primeau. Worse yet, the Bruins took their first real penalty of the game when Marchand got called for slashing with 10:14 left. The Canadiens came THIS close to scoring when Matheson's shot rang off the post and behind Swayman. Brandon Carlo and Swayman pounced on it just in time. The Bruins killed off the penalty and Montreal took one when Hutson was sent to the box for holding with 7:13 left. Marchand dished it to Pastrnak on the power play but Primeau made the save. The Bruins failed to score but the defense stepped up. With 2:30 left Montreal pulled the goalie for the extra attacker. Kastelic got control of the puck and passed it to Beecher. Beecher sent it over the line to Koepke who scored the empty net goal to seal it. Back in net, Primeau had to stop a slapper from Geekie to make sure the final score wasn't even worse. The Bruins had won the game 6-3.

                                Joe Sacco doing his best Detective Daniel Reagan impression

Reaction:

Great win by the Bruins over their century old rivals and it was nice to see Pastrnak score for the first time in eight games. Ironically it was the Boston boys who did the most damage. Ex-Boston University alum McAvoy and Weymouth's own Coyle. The only drawback to the game was allowing that third goal to make the game close. If Swayman wants to put himself in the Vezina hunt, he's got to make those stops. Especially when the Bruins are in tight games with their schizophrenic offense. Still, they got it done today with all the ghosts in the building. Sad how the Bruins have been around for 100 years with only 6 Stanley Cups to show for it. Montreal won 6 in the 1970's alone. Still, Montreal hasn't won since 1993 and 2011 is still fresh on the minds of Bruins fans. As for this year's team, they're perfectly mediocre but today was fun. The win improved the Bruins to 12-11-3, four points behind the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic Division and they have a game in hand. The Bruins look for another win against the Detroit Red Wings this Tuesday night at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.

Penguins Shut Down Bruins (11/29/24)

So much for that offensive resurgence against the New York Islanders. The Boston Bruins reverted back to their old ways of nothing as they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 2-1. The key to the game was in the second period. Charlie Coyle scored just 84 seconds into the game but with just one second left in the second, Rickard Rakell tucked one past Jeremy Swayman to tie the game. The Bruins never recovered as the much maligned Tristian Jarry held Boston scoreless after that first goal. Just over seven minutes into the third, Philip Tomasino took a dish from Evgeni Malkin and scored to put Pittsburgh ahead. The Bruins put 32 shots on Jarry but 31 of them were saved as the Penguins beat the Bruins 2-1 at TD Garden.

                                                         Stonewalled by HIM?

The Bruins didn't waste any time getting on the board in the first period. Jack St Ivanny turned the puck over right onto the stick of Tyler Johnson. Johnson dished it to Trent Frederic who passed to a wide open Charlie Coyle who fired it in for his fifth goal of the season just 1:24 into the game. Just over a minute later, a 2 on 1 resulted in a wide open Sidney Crosby breakaway....saved by Jeremy Swayman. Swayman also stopped a slapper by Marcus Pettersson to keep the lead intact. Justin Brazeau nearly tucked one past Jarry but it was saved.

                                                       Coyle scores

Just over six minutes into the first period, Cole Koepke had a partial breakaway but couldn't fire it past Jarry. Swayman held the fort with some big saves on the other end but Mason Lohrei's slapshot was saved by Jarry. With just over 8 minutes left in the first period, Johnson dished it back to Patrick Wotherspoon but Jarry saved the slap shot attempt. Swayman kept busy by stopping a Philip Tomasino drive and then Ryan Shea got called for tripping with 7:55 left in the first. Charlie McAvoy was stoned by Jarry on the power play and Kevin Hayes was robbed by Swayman on a shorthanded attempt. Then disaster struck as Brad Marchand got bagged for interference just 56 seconds into the powerplay. Four on four solved nothing and the Bruins killed off the penalty. Jarry stoned Pavel Zacha with just over a minute left and Swayman stopped Michael Bunting at the other end. Then the Bruins got stupid as Tyler Johnson was whistled for tripping with 22 seconds left and Nikita Zadorov on the bench reached over and poked Evgeni Malkin with his stick. Malkin retaliated and a scrum ensued. Both Zadorov and Malkin got matching penalties but the Johnson call put the Penguins on the power play as the first period ended with the Bruins up 1-0.

                                                    Zadorov causing trouble

Ironically it was the Bruins who got the first chance of the second period on the penalty kill. McAvoy tossed the puck to Marchand who passed it to Coyle for the one timer....saved by Jarry. Three minutes later, David Pastrnak sent the puck right to Pavel Zacha on the doorstep but Zacha couldn't tuck it in. 7 minutes into the period Pettersson shot it off Swayman for a rebound but Tomasino couldn't bang it home. 8:11 into the period Bunting stripped McAvoy of the puck for a 2 on 1 but Swayman robbed Anthony Beauvillier point blank. The Bruins went on the power play again when St. Ivanny went off for tripping halfway through the period but once again the Bruins could do nothing with it. Disaster struck at the end of the period with a Bruins zone faceoff with six seconds left. Crosby won the draw back to Erik Karlsson who's slapshot went wide. Crosby scooped the puck up, tossed it to Tomasino who fired it past Swayman with 1 second left in the period to tie the game. That turned out to be the backbreaker as we went to intermission tied 1-1.

                                                      Killer goal by Pittsburgh

The third period belonged to the Penguins as they peppered Swayman with six shots in the first couple of minutes. The game was essentially over 7:26 into the third when Malkin skated around Zacha and threw it in front. Tomasino shot it past Swayman to give the Penguins the lead. It was Tomasino's first of the season to boot. The final big chance came with 8:14 left as Brandon Carlo fired it on net and Jarry left a rebound. Charlie Coyle dragged it and drew Jarry out of the net, but a heads up play by Kris Letang blocking the shot from going into the net kept Pittsburgh in front. With 7:03 left, Bunting was whistled for holding the stick to give the Bruins one last power play chance, but they failed to score. Karlsson saved the day for Pittsburgh after Andrew Peeke's slapshot caromed right to Morgan Geekie with Jarry down. Karlsson stepped in front and blocked Geekie's attempt. The Bruins pulled Swayman for the extra attacker but Pastrnak's last second blast was saved by Jarry to give Pittsburgh the 2-1 win.

                                                      Lost to the damn Penguins

Reaction:

The good news is once again the defense put up a damn good fight, holding the Penguins to just two goals after teams were utterly dominating the Bruins throughout most of November. The bad news was the offense once again evaporated. Getting stoned by Tristian Jarry is embarrassing enough but the saves made by Karlsson and Letang just goes to show the Bruins have no puck luck at all. The Bruins power play currently ranks dead last in the NHL and Joe Sacco needs to change up the lines or Don Sweeney needs to call up Fabian Lysell to sink or swim. Whatever they're doing now clearly isn't working since the only team they beat up were the god damned New York Islanders. Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Karlsson make a great NHL 2010 all-star team but its 2025 in a month, the Bruins shouldn't be getting shut down like this damn near every game. The loss drops the Bruins to 11-11-3....ugh. The Bruins remain home for their special Centennial Game against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon. 100 years to the day the Boston Bruins played their first game, they take on Les Habitants at 3:00 PM at the TD Garden.

Bruins Bounce Back Against Islanders (11/27/24)

The much maligned Boston Bruins offense had been as rotten as their jockstraps the past four games, scoring just 4 goals combined. Tonight they turned the tide against the New York Islanders by scoring SIX goals in tonight's game against New York goalie Ilya Sorokin. Less than one minute into the game Brad Marchand set the tone for the game with a goal and just over five minutes later, he scored again. Two goal leads are the worst in hockey and tonight was no different as Maxim Tsyplakov and Brock Nelson scored to tie the game. Morgan Geekie scored his second of the season but Nelson answered to tie the game going into the third. Then it was the Pavel Zacha show as he scored twice in two and a half minutes to put the game away. Nikita Zadorov got the empty net goal, Joonas Korpisalo held the Islanders scoreless in the final twenty minutes and the Bruins got back in the winning column with a 6-3 win at the UBS Center.

                                                     Bruins remembered how to score

56 seconds into the game Elias Lindholm took the faceoff in the Islanders zone and dumped it to Brad Marchand, the captain scoring on a one timer to give the Bruins the lead. Less than a minute later Pavel Zacha dished the puck to Lindholm for a one timer but Sorokin stopped it. Four minutes into the game Joonas Korpisalo stopped a shot from the point by Dennis Cholowski. Just over four minutes into the game, Zacha found Mark Kastelic but was unable to jam it home. Then the Bruins caught the Islanders asleep when Lindholm passed it up to Justin Brazeau who left the puck to Marchand, scoring his second goal of the period to put the Bruins up by two. Then with just over seven minutes left in the period, Parker Wotherspoon passed it off the boards right to Brock Nelson, who found Maxim Tsyplakov all alone in front to score a goal. Just a lazy play by Wotherspoon. Less than thirty seconds later, Kastelic tried to pass the puck to Cole Koepke but it went through his legs right to Oliver Wahlstrom. Thankfully Korpisalo denied the back hand attempt but that was two terrible turnovers in under a minute. Bo Horvat fired it right to Korpisalo off the faceoff then Joonas denied Tsyplakov. With 3:10 remaining, Morgan Geekie dished it to Zacha but Sorokin denied the shot attempt. Brandon Carlo was also stopped by Sorokin with 101 seconds left in the period. Pastrnak too was denied with one minute left in the period as the Bruins ended the period still up 2-1.

                                                       Marchand means business tonight

Marchand damn near got a hat trick just 34 seconds into the second period but Sorokin just got a pad blocker on the shot attempt. The Islanders completed the inevitable when Brock Nelson blew by Mason Lohrei and fired the puck past Korpisalo to tie the game just under nine minutes into the period. Three minutes later the Bruins answered when Pastrnak passed it to Zacha who found Geekie wide open in the slot. Geekie fired it into the net for just his second goal of the season to put the Bruins back on top 3-2. The Bruins went into shell mode for the rest of the period and strangely there weren't any penalties either. With 7 seconds left in the period, Nelson skated right past Zadorov and McAvoy to score the game tying goal, going into intermission tied 3-3.

                                                     Unhappy Islanders fan

Korpisalo made the biggest save of the night on a 3 on 2 rush just under four minutes into the third period. Horvat dished it to Jean Gabriel-Pageau who dished it back to Horvat for a one timer....stopped by Joonas. The Bruins took control of the game halfway through the period when Andrew Peeke fired it on net, tipped home by Zacha to put Boston back on top with 9:12 remaining. Less than three minutes later, Zadorov passed it behind the net to Pastrnak. David threw it in front of the net and Zacha happened to be there to bang it home for the big insurance goal with 6:37 remaining. Suddenly the referees decided to call a penalty when Zadorov got called for a borderline cross check call on Anders Lee with 4:10 left. With three minutes left, Islanders coach Patrick Roy pulled Sorokin for the 6 on 4 advantage. The Bruins held fast as Lindholm took the puck, passed it to McAvoy who fired it up the boards as time expired. Zadorov just happened to be coming out of the box and he casually swept the puck into the empty net for the final goal with 2:02 left. That was it and the Bruins had won the game 6-3.

                                                       Big win by Boston

Reaction:

Its about damn time the Bruins figured out how to score goals again. Yes it was against Ilya Sorokin but good goals are good goals. Charlie McAvoy said after last night's disaster that "the damn is gonna break" and it took less than 24 hours for it to happen. Marchand and especially Zacha needed to step up and they did. The Geekie goal was big too because the Bruins had blown a two goal lead and momentum could have slipped away. Kudos to Korpisalo for stoning the Islanders cold in the third period as well. Another interesting factor is there was only one penalty in the entire game and it was a pretty soft call. It was only fair Zadorov came out of the box to score the empty netter. The offense could still use an uplift (Fabian Lysell) in the long run but for one night, it looked to be back on track. With Jeremy Swayman appearing to shake off the rust, the Bruins might be fine after all. The win improved the Bruins to 11-10-3, good for 25 points and just three back of the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division (Toronto does have two games in hand). The Bruins now play a Black Friday showdown against the Pittsburgh Penguins at home. The game begins at 6:30 PM at TD Garden.

Canucks Blank Punchless Bruins (11/26/24)

The Boston Bruins offensive woes continued as the Bruins failed to score in tonight's game against the Vancouver Canucks. Old pal Jake DeBrusk naturally got the Canucks started with a second period power play goal after Canucks nemesis Brad Marchand was in the penalty box for cross checking. The good news was the Boston defense showed up big time in this one, suffocating the Canucks for pretty much the rest of the game. The Canucks only had 15 total shots while the Bruins peppered Kevin Lankinen for 32 on the other end. Unfortunately none of the 32 shots went in as Lankinen posted the shutout for the Canucks. Jeremy Swayman continued to show signs of his former self but the hapless offense continues to drag the Bruins down. Conor Garland got the empty net goal with 13 seconds left to hand Joe Sacco his first loss as Bruins coach 2-0 at TD Garden.

                                                       Of course it had to be DeBrusk

The first period was a whole lot of nothing mostly due to the Bruins defense. The first big save by Kevin Lankinen came with 7 minutes gone in the first period. Charlie McAvoy passed it to Mason Lohrei who fired to David Pastrnak. Pastrnak's one timer was denied and Pavel Zacha failed to tuck it in. Conor Garland then passed it to Pius Suter but his one timer was denied by Jeremy Swayman. With 11:20 left in the period, Swayman denied Filip Hronek and Teddy Blueger on the doorstep. Down the other end, John Beecher fed a pass to Andrew Peeke, who fired on net. Lankinen made the save and both Cole Koepke and Mark Kastelic failed to bang it in. Down the other end again, Dakota Joshua passed to a wide open Gardland but Swayman stoned him cold. With 5:30 left Charlie Coyle fired on net but was denied. Beecher was also denied by Lankinen a few seconds later. With four minutes left, Brad Marchand threw it in front to Justin Brazeau. Brazeau had Lankinen beat clean....if he didn't fire it completely over everything. Trent Frederic was also stopped and the biggest chance was blown when Morgan Geekie was stopped point blank with no one around him with two minutes left. Nothing else happpened the game was tied 0-0 after one.

                                                    Defensive masterclass in the first

The Bruins blew another chance off the bat just 66 seconds into the second period. Pastrnak had a wide open breakaway but failed to score on Lankinen. Charlie McAvoy had the pick with Lankinen down but failed to backhand it in. Marc McLaughlin was denied a few seconds later but down the other end, Nils Hoglander was denied by Swayman. That was Vancouver's fourth shot the entire game to show how dominant the defense was. With just over 3 minutes gone, Pastrnak centered a pass to Zacha who was denied by Lankinen. Everything fell apart when Marchand was whistled for cross checking 4:05 into the period to put the Canucks on the power play. Quinn Hughes fired it wide with Gardland scooping up the puck, dishing it to old buddy Jake DeBrusk who scored to put Vancouver ahead. Swayman argued that he was interfered with and Bruins coach Joe Sacco challenged the goal. The officials held the call and the Bruins took a delay of game penalty. With a few seconds left on their second power play, old buddy Danton Heinen left the puck for Kiefer Sherwood but Swayman stopped that one. Hoglander then passed it to a wide open Heinen but it went through his legs, otherwise Swayman would have had no chance to stop it. Carson Soucy then had a good look but Swayman stopped that too. With 7:20 left in the period Nikita Zadorov was denied a goal by Lankinen. Brazeau was also denied and the Bruins caught a break when Brock Boeser was called for slashing with 6:10 left in the period. On the power play, Marchand failed to bang a puck home for their only shot. With 3:35 left, Peeke found Pastrnak for a one timer but Lankinen made the save. A minute later, Marchand was denied as well as the Bruins ended the period down 1-0.

                                                    A goal by GUESS WHO

The third period began with the Bruins continuing to stifle the Canucks and got a chance with 2:22 gone in the period. Peeke fired it on net and Lankinen left a rebound, the Bruins failed to bang it home. Then Marc McLaughlin threw it on net and it squirted underneath Lankinen in the crease. Kevin BARELY got to it before Brazeau was able to bang it in to preserve the shutout. In the ensuing scrum, Joshua got called for roughing when he punched Frederic's helmet off. Naturally the Bruins failed to score on the powerplay when Zacha's one timer was stopped by Lankinen. Pastrnak fired it on net and Elias Lindholm failed to bang it in. With 9:45 left in the game Boeser was sent to the box for interference but once again the Bruins failed to score on the power play. The Bruins got good chances but Lankinen was a wall in the net. The Bruins final faux-pas came with 2 minutes left when Lohrei fired on net and Lankinen left a rebound. Pastrnak failed to bang it home and the puck moved safely out of the zone. The Bruins pulled Swayman and with 25 seconds left, a McAvoy blast went wide of the net. Pastrnak threw it in front and Lankinen somehow stopped Lindholm's shot from point blank range. Naturally Suter fed Garland for the empty net goal and the Canucks won the game 2-0.

                                                     Canucks win

Reaction:

That loss stings big time. The Bruins essentially controlled the game defensively but couldn't bury any pucks pas Lankinen. Some of the shots were routine saves but other times it was "how the hell did that not go in"? The lone goal scored against Swayman was also on a power play which makes it even worse that the Bruins were perfect 5 on 5. The Bruins also have an ignominious stat as they have only ONE goal all year in the third period at home. Can't blame Swayman or the defense for this one as the Bruins couldn't score. That's four goals in their last four games going back to the cataclysmic Columbus game that got Jim Montgomery fired. Sacco isn't exactly a neutral zone trap coach like Claude Julien so something has to be done about the offense. They may as well call up Fabian Lysell and tell him to sink or swim because nothing else is working lately. The loss drops the Bruins to 10-10-3 on the season. The Bruins play tomorrow night on the second night of a back to back tomorrow night on the road against the New York Islanders. The game begins at 7:00 PM at UBS Arena.

Bruins Edge Red Wings in Detroit (11/23/24)

The Boston Bruins made it two in a row for new head coach Joe Sacco as they came to Detroit looking for another strong performance against the Red Wings. Once again it was a defensive struggle but once again, the Bruins defense held for the second straight game. Jeremy Swayman bounced back to stop 19 out of 20 shots as once again the Bruins defense suffocated their opponent. On the offensive side, the power play woke up with Justin Brazeau sniping his fifth goal of the season in the first period. Lucas Raymond scored with one minute left in the period and the game wasn't decided until the third. With 8:30 left, Brad Marchand scored his sixth goal of the season to put the Bruins ahead where the defense held. The Bruins held on to win 2-1 at Little Caesar's Arena.

                                                       The Captain wins this one

Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot robbed David Pastrnak point blank just 26 seconds into the game while Swayman stopped a Raymond shot four minutes into the game. Elias Lindholm's slapshot was caught 4:12 into the game but the Bruins caught a break when Marco Kasper was whistled for tripping 6:40 into the game to put Boston on the power play. With a few seconds left in the power play, Mason Lohrei passed it to Tyler Johnson who fired it on net. The puck bounced off Brazeau's stick and it in to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Ironically 23 seconds later, Johnson flipped the puck out of the arena for a delay of game penalty. Swayman made some good stops to kill the penalty including after the power play on a shot by Erik Gustafsson. With three minutes left in the period, Morgan Geekie passed to a wide open Pastrnak but Talbot stoned him for a big save. Mark Kastelic got stopped as well with 1:46 left in the period but then Detroit struck. With 58 seconds left, Dylan Larkin passed up to Vladimir Tarasenko who dished it to Lucas Raymond for a slapshot goal to tie the game. That was it for the first period as the game was tied 1-1.

                                                         Brazeau gets credit for the tip

The second period was a defensive struggle although Detroit got an early power play when Johnson took a tripping penalty 1:35 into the period. Swayman stopped Tarasenko on the doorstep and a wide open Andrew Copp down low. After the penalty was over, Johnson dished to Nikita Zadorov who was stopped by Talbot. Alex DeBrincat almost scored on Swayman but he made the save just over five minutes into the period. A minute later Trent Frederic was robbed but on the other end, Parker Wotherspoon gave the puck to an open Marco Kasper but Swayman made the save. With 9:21 left in the period, Raymond got bagged for hooking and the Bruins went on the power play.  As usual they did nothing with it and Wotherspoon got thrown in the box for interference with 4:45 to go in the period. The Red Wings were even worse than the Bruins as they gave the puck away. Pavel Zacha came down on a two on one with Marchand but Zacha failed to score on the pass. John Beecher also had a shorthanded bid denied. With 40 seconds left in the period Frederic passed to Lohrei who missed the net. Copp had an open breakaway with 5 seconds left but Swayman made the save to end the period with the game still tied 1-1.

                                                         Tie game going into the third

Four minutes into the third period the puck found Copp streaking toward the Bruins net but the alert Swayman stoned him cold. Just over seven minutes into the period Zacha found Geekie wide open in the slot but Talbot made the save. Kastelic then buried Michael Rasmussen with a check into the boards and then the Bruins went back on top with 8:30 left in the game. Pastrnak passed it to Andrew Peeke who dished it to Marchand who zig zagged in front of the net for his sixth goal of the season to put Boston in front. The Bruins defense smothered Detroit from there until Marchand was called for hooking with 1:22 left in the game. The Red Wings had a 6 on 4 with the goalie pulled and Mortiz Seider beat Swayman glove side but it rang off the post and out, Swayman pouncing on it to stop play. That was it and the Bruins hung on to win 2-1.

                                                    Bruins win the game

Reaction:

Just like the other night against Utah, this was a near defensive masterpiece. With the limited offense the Bruins have, the way to win is to play defense and pray the goalie stands on his head. Swayman made some big saves but holding the Red Wings to 20 shots is on the defense. The problem is they're not going to be able to win every game 1-0 or 2-1 so this isn't sustainable. It might be time to call up Fabian Lysell because what have they got to lose at this point? The Bruins are in danger of not even making the playoffs if the offense doesn't wake up so it might be time to let Lysell sink or swim. As for this game, kudos to Swayman and the defense. Also shout out to Tyler Johnson for his first point of the season. He damn well isn't going to score 29 goals like he did for Tampa Bay six years ago but SOMETHING would be nice. The Bruins improve to 10-9-3 on the season and now travel home to Vancouver to play the Canucks this Tuesday night. The game begins at 7:00 PM at TD Garden.

Bruins Blank Utah, Sacco Gets First Win (11/21/24)

Good news Boston Bruins fans, the Bruins won their first game after sending Jim Montgomery packing, defeating the Utah Hockey Club by a riveting score of 1-0. Joonas Korpisalo was a perfect 22 of 22 to pitch the shutout for the Bruins, making a winner out of new head coach Joe Sacco behind the bench. The only goal of the game was scored by the much maligned Elias Lindholm who got mobbed on the bench after scoring it. For one night anyway, the Bruins defense stepped it up, Korpisalo was solid and the Bruins beat the HC's 1-0 at TD Garden.

                                                         Sacco wins his Bruins debut

The first period was about as exciting as a glass of water although Korpisalo had to make an early save on a Mikhail Sergachev blast. Then 6 minutes into the period Mark Kastelic decided to trade punches with Robert Bortuzzo. One minute later, Lawson Crouse got whistled for tripping to give the Bruins the first powerplay. Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka stopped Georgii Merkulov, Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie to keep the game scoreless. Parker Wotherspoon was also robbed by Vejmelka before Geekie got bagged for tripping to put Utah on the powerplay 10 minutes into the period. On the power play, Korpisalo robbed Sergachev point blank to keep the game tied and Jack Bain got whistled for high sticking to put the Bruins back on the power play with 6:58 left in the period. The Bruins could do nothing although David Pastrnak was stoned by Vejmelka. Justin Brazeau also got robbed to keep the game scoreless. Vejmelka robbed Geekie twice as the B's were now 0-3 on the PP. With just over 3 minutes left in the period, Crouse got two minutes for slashing to put the Bruins on another power play. Merkulov whiffed on a chance but Vejmelka stoned Zacha on a blast. That was it for the first period with the game tied 0-0.

                                "I aughta beat your brains in and I think I will!" - Kastelic

Early in the second period Korpisalo had to make a save on a Dylan Guenther blast as Vejmelka had to stop Cole Koepke on the door step. Pastrnak had a partial breakaway 3 minutes into the period but was poked check away at the last second by Jack McBain....but wait! The refs called hooking on the play to put the Bruins back on the power play.  One second on the power play, Pastrnak's blast was gloved by Vejmelka. Another Pasta blast was saved by Vejmelka then McAvoy was robbed. Brad Marchand tried to whack it in but failed. Charlie Coyle got sent to the box with 14:31 left in the period but Korpisalo held strong. The Bruins once again went on the power play when Cooley was called for holding with 7:40 left in the period. Finally the Bruins hit paydirt when Pastrnak's blast ricocheted to Elias Lindholm, who tucked it on to put the Bruins up 1-0. Not too long after, Kastelic once again went blow for blow with Bortuzzo although he picked up a 2 minute roughing penalty to put the HC's on the power play. The HC's failed to score on the power play and not much else happened in the period. The Bruins went into intermission up 1-0.

                                                     Bruins take the lead

One minute into the third period Zacha gave the puck to a wide open Crouse but Korpisalo made the save. Half a minute later, Michael Kesselring got bagged for cross checking to put the Bruins on another power play. Charlie McAvoy was robbed point blank and the Bruins once again failed to cash in. With 8 minutes left, Guenther hit the post and nearly kicked the air in frustration. With just under seven minutes left, Koepke got thrown in the box for slashing to put Utah on the power play. Utah failed to cash in and Vejmelka went to the bench with 2:13 left in the game for the extra attacker. The game was essentially ended when Kevin Stenlund took a slashing penalty with 1:48 left. It looked like Pastrnak hit the empty net with 58 seconds left but for whatever reason the goal was reviewed. The refs said Pastrnak played it with a high stick, which wasn't even on the shot attempt. Either way the goal was disallowed. With 5 on 5 for the remainder, the Bruins held on to post the goose egg 1-0.

                                                          Bruins win

Reaction:

That was more like it. The Bruins offense continued to be completely inept but the defense woke up big time. Utah is not a great team but that was 60 minutes of hockey aided by the Korpisalo performance. He didn't have to make any highlight reel saves but when the defense isn't a turnstile, he didn't have to make any. The power play did score a goal but had plenty of other chances to score more. The lack of offense on this team is frightening but its only November. There's a long way to go before they sell or add at the trade deadline. Lindholm was desperate for a goal, Korpisalo needed a good game and Nikita Zadarov needed to anchor the defense. All three things happened and the Bruins won the game. The win improved the Bruins to 9-9-3 and next on the agenda is a Saturday night showdown against the Detroit Red Wings. The game begins at 7:00 PM at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

Jim Montgomery FIRED (11/19/24)

Well the inevitable happened a day after another brutal, lifeless loss. The Columbus Blue Jackets spanked the the Boston Bruins 5-1 last night and finally, FINALLY it was too much for Bruins upper management to take. Montgomery was fired this afternoon and assistant coach Joe Sacco will be the interim coach for the rest of the season.

                                                             Jim's expression says it all

So what happened? How can a franchise that came two wins short of the East Finals last year suddenly can their coach before Thanksgiving? Here's why.

Following the 2022 season, a group of Bruins players came to General Manager Don Sweeney and begged them to get rid of head coach Bruce Cassidy. Cassidy had made the playoffs every season since taking over in 2017 including Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019. The fact the Bruins kept the players over the coach was a bad sign, but they needed a new coach. Jim Montgomery was a formerly disgraced coach of the Dallas Stars before alcoholism got him fired. Now sober, Montgomery took over the Bruins for the 2022-23 season. The 23 Bruins would be getting David Krejci back from temporary retirement along with Pavel Zacha. The 23 Bruins were a complete wagon during the regular season, winning 65 games and setting the NHL regular season point record with 135. As well all know, the season ended with an ignominious defeat at the hands of the Florida Panthers. The Bruins not only blew a 3-1 series lead but the lead in Game 7 before losing in overtime.

                                                     A record regular season WASTED

Montgomery won the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year for the 2023 season but his best work was arguably last season. The Bruins were gutted as Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired for good, Taylor Hall, Connor Clifton, Tyler Bertuzzi, Garnett Hathaway and Dimitri Orlov left in free agency and the Bruins made the playoffs with a rag tag bunch including aging James Van Reimsdyk, Pat Maroon, Morgan Geekie, Justin Brazeau, 19 year old Matt Poitras and John Beecher. The Bruins stomped their perennial bitch in the Toronto Maple Leads with a David Pastrnak OT game winner in Game 7 before running into the Panthers again. The Bruins did win the first game but lost the next three straight. They did manage to win Game 5 in Florida but a late goal in Game 6 won it for the Panthers. Still, Montgomery managed to coach this team of rag tags to coming two wins short of the East Finals.

                                             Jim can't bear to watch....see what I did there?

So what went wrong this year? Quite frankly, it wasn't even his fault. The main reason the Bruins got as far as they did was their tag team in the net. Linus Ullmark the 2023 Vezina winner and Jeremy Swayman strong armed the Bruins the past two seasons. Then before the season the Bruins made an idiotic trade, sending Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators for a first round pick, cement head Mark Kastelic and the worst goalie contract in the league, Joonas Korpisalo. Korpisalo is on the books for 3 million dollars a year the next four years. After that, Jeremy Swayman held out for a better contract throughout training camp. Swayman signed a superstar contract just before the season started, but he was clearly not ready for prime time. The Bruins looked lost, lifeless and fightless most of the start of this season as Swayman was playing himself into shape and Korpisalo was exactly what the perssimistic Bruins fans thought he'd be. Most everyone in the lineup is underachieving and not only were they losing, they were getting beat badly. They got shutout 4-0 by Nashiville on October 22nd then got smashed 5-2 by the Dallas Stars the very next game. The kiss of death was when they got demolished 8-2 by Carolina on Halloween night. Two games later they got blasted by the Maple Leafs 4-0 in a game Steve Dangle would be proud of. People began calling for Montgomery's head when they got spanked 7-2 by the Stars on November 14 and after losing in overtime to the Blues this past Saturday. Last night the Columbus Blue Jackets pounded the Bruins 5-1 and that was it for Montgomery. Swayman is clearly not ready and the castoffs and rag tags came back to earth. The sad part is the roster construction isn't his fault. He got stripped of hall of famer Patrice Bergeron, Krejci, Hall, etc and had to make due with Beecher, Brazeau, Geekie, etc. The problem is upstairs in the GM box, but with owner Jeremy Jacobs turning a profit, Sweeney's job is safe.

                                                         Bye bye Jim

So who is Joe Sacco? He's a local star from Medford High that went to college at Boston University. He was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1987 and played 16 years, making his name with the Anaheim Ducks and Washington Capitals mostly. He coached the Lowell Lock Monsters for two years before spending 4 years as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche for four years. The bad news is they sucked in that time period. He's been a Bruins assistant coach for 10 years getting passed up by Bruce Cassidy and Jim Montgomery before being named as head coach this morning. The good news is he has head coaching experience, bad news is he didn't light the world on fire. 

                                              "What have I got myself into?" - Sacco

This seems like putting a band-aid on a gushing wound as its really the fault of upper management that put this team together. There's no high end talent apart from Pastrnak and Swayman is still not in shape. The Bruins are stuck with Korpisalo for 4 years and if anyone deserves to be fired, its Don Sweeney. The Bruins are back in action this coming Thursday night at home against the Utah Hockey Club. The game begins at 7:00 PM at the TD Garden.